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This paper presents critical autoethnography as an innovative approach to conducting research in marginalized, vulnerable communities. Combining autoethnography, ethnography, and critical pedagogy, the researcher becomes a participant in the study, turning inward to examine the Self and the complexities of cultural perspectives through the lens of critical pedagogy. Intense reflexivity and introspection undergird this study of Self as participant, going beyond recounting facts as objectively as possible, as occurs with autobiography, to acknowledging that the researcher is interpreting the facts through cultural perspectives formed through years of sociocultural, socio-historical, sociopolitical, and socioeconomic events and circumstances. Subsequently, the researcher, more than likely a member of the dominant culture in some categories is able to understand herself as an oppressor.

This article presents critical autoethnography as a socially just way of conducting research in marginalized, vulnerable communities. Combining autoethnography, ethnography, and critical pedagogy, the researcher becomes a participant/collaborator in the study, turning inward to examine the Self and the complexities of cultural perspectives through the lens of critical pedagogy. Through intense reflexivity and introspection, the researcher can examine Self as participant, not trying to present facts as objectively as possible, as occurs with autobiography, but rather acknowledging that the interpretation of facts reflects cultural perspectives shaped by years of sociocultural, sociohistorical, sociopolitical, and socioeconomic events and circumstances. Subsequently, the researcher, more than likely a member of the dominant culture in some categories, is able to understand herself as an oppressor.

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Using poetry, the author examines the journey that carried her from a coal mining family in a small town in West Virginia to an assistant professorship at a Research I university. Through performance autoethnography, she explores the influences that led to her perception of herself as an outsider in the academic community. She also considers how her background inspires her to establish relationships and conduct research in Latino communities. She questions the positioning/repositioning of the essence of self within the fluidity of moving back and forth between coal mining family roots and academic colleagues and friends. She attempts to understand her story through reflecting, writing, and performing as inquiry.